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gold standard ’

On Monday June 4, 2012, Louis Cammarosano, General Manager of HomeGain, was a guest on the Real Estate 360 Live radio show on The Big Talker 1580 WHFS AM, hosted by Ryan Sloper.

Listen to the show.

Part 1 (14:31)

Louis notes that the “flight to safety” still involves buying US Treasuries even though the US owes over $14 trillion and notes that the Fed will continue to do quantitative easing and keep interest rates low. Louis notes that even though this methodology can be viewed as “kicking the can down the road” and that road is a dead end, the markets seem to buy it.

Ryan notes that ten year treasury is at an all time low. Louis notes that rates in Germany are negative. Louis notes that Europe is considering an even stronger central bank bailout of Europe. Louis notes that in a debt driven economy, more and more debt needs to be layered on to keep the economy going. Louis notes ironically that investors take comfort that the Federal Reserve will continue to buy US debt based on money created out of thin air. Louis notes that once hyperinflation inflation hit, the printing press needs to go into overdrive and the game is over.

Louis notes that the Federal reserve has been able to maintain confidence in their ability to sustain confidence and to pay down the debt with more debt. Louis notes that once confidence is lost it is lost quickly. Louis notes that a 30 year low interest mortgage is a good bargain. Louis notes that rates are artificially low and therefore the low rates are a bargain. Louis notes that all currencies are tied to the US dollar so the US dollar acts as an anchor even though the US dollar is not backed by anything. Louis notes that the US went of the gold standard in 1971. Louis notes that people take comfort in the dollar just because.Continue reading this post

On Monday January 23, 2012, Louis Cammarosano, General Manager of HomeGain, was a guest on the Real Estate 360 radio show on The Big Talker 1580 WHFS AM, hosted by Ryan Sloper.

Listen to the show.

Part 1 (14:24)

Ryan and Louis discuss the Republican Primary, gold and silver prices and HomeGain’s 2012 Home Ownership Satisfaction Survey. Ryan notes that when mortgage rates move up, they move up fast. Ryan urges rate shoppers to lock in now. Ryan predicts higher mortgage rates in 2012. Louis discusses how the networks were able to project Newt Gingrich the winner of the South Carolina primary based on exit polls.

Ryan notes that Texas governor Rick Perry has dropped out and has endorsed Newt Gingrich. Ryan notes that Romney is attaching Gingrich based on his relationship with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Louis notes that in Iowa and New Hampshire Gingrich was crushed as a result of the focus of voters on Newt Gingrich’s activities with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae.

Louis notes that during the South Carolina primary process, when the focus moved away from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and towards Mitt Romney’s activities at Bain Capital, the voters shifted away from Romney and towards Gingrich. Louis notes that Gingrich benefited in South Carolina from appearing strong in responding to a debate question relating to his personal life. Louis notes, however, that Gingrich won’t be able to win based on those types of answers.

Louis notes that as the attention shifts back to Gingrich’s activities at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, Romney will benefit and Gingrich will suffer. Louis notes that Gingrich is the non Romney flavor of the month-his predecessors being Santorum, Cain, Perry and Bachman. Louis notes that Republicans are looking for a conservative alternative to Romney. Louis notes that as people peek under the cover they will notice that Santorum and Gingrich are not as conservative as they claim.

Louis notes that Ron Paul has been consistent in his view for 30 years and that his support in the polls has not fluctuated wildly like the other candidates and has grown steadily. Louis notes that the media constantly discusses Ron Paul’s supposed non electability but never discussed the electability of the other candidates like Herman Cain whose qualifications including running a “pizza palour”, Michelle Bachman who has only been in congress a few years and Mitt Romney who was governor of a state that instituted “RomneyCare” a pre cursor to “ObamaCare” which is anathma to conservatives and Newt Gingirch with 20 years of “baggage”.

Louis notes that Ron Paul has won 12 elections to congress and has increased his vote totals by 4-5X since 2008 in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina. Ryan notes that Ron Paul’s issues, excessive spending, civil liberties, the Federal Reserve have not been discussed much in the campaigns and the debates. Louis notes that the Tea Party came into existence largely as a protest against the bail outs an the irony that the two front runners Romney and Gingrich were in favor of them and the stimulus packages.

Louis notes that Ron Paul has gained currency with younger voters and that younger voters are discovering Austrian economics. Louis and Ryan discuss Ron Paul’s interest in reinstituting the gold standard and that Newt Gingrich has jumped on that bandwagon.

Louis notes that during the debates they have not talked about each candidates plan to cut spending – other than Rick Perry’s attempt to name three Federal Agencies that he would cut. Louis notes that only Ron Paul has a plan to cut spending-$1 Trillion in his first year as President.

On Monday November 14, 2011, Louis Cammarosano, General Manager of HomeGain, was a guest on the Real Estate Radio show on The Big Talker 1580 AM, hosted by Ryan Sloper.

Listen to the show.

Part 1 (15:00)

Ryan notes a curious answer by Newt Gingrich about housing during the recent Republican debate. Louis notes the problem of having a real debate with nine candidates in an hour and noted Ron Paul, for example only spoke for 90 seconds in the most recent debate. Louis notes that there is no free market in real estate as the government is so involved in the real estate market. Louis notes the absurdity of giving the executives of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae bonuses.

Ryan discusses the issues that Private Mortgage Insurance companies are having and their impact on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Louis notes the analogy during the financial crisis when AIG was unable to meet its insurance obligations to Goldman Sachs and the Fed had to bail them out. Louis notes that the government caused the housing bubble with low interest rates.

Louis notes that the government also causes the cost of education to go higher by guaranteeing loans. Louis note that when the government sponsors services by guaranteeing loans, prices go higher but the quality does not go up. Louis notes that students with excessive loans will have a hard time getting a job and even if they get one will have a hard time getting a loan to buy a home. Louis notes that 70% of the U.S. economy is based on spending-spending with borrowed money.Continue reading this post

On Monday August 15, 2011, Louis Cammarosano, General Manager of HomeGain, was a guest on the Real Estate Radio show on The Big Talker 1580 AM, hosted by Ryan Sloper.

Listen to the show.

Part 1 (14:27)

Ryan notes the stock market volatility of the prior week. Ryan notes that mortgage interest rates are at record lows. Ryan talks about the cost of home ownership as being the primary determinate in home affordability and matching mortgage payments against rental payments. Ryan and Louis discuss the sales of US Treasuries in the prior week and note that demand for US Treasuries needs to remain high to keep interest rates low. Louis notes that demand for Treasuries needs to be created by the Fed and to be coordinated by the Fed with foreign sovereigns who finance their US debt purchases by taking out debt of their own. Louis notes that interest rates are being kept low artificially. Ryan notes that China is continuing to purchase US Treasuries while Russia is scaling back. Louis notes that China is sort of forced to buy US Treasuries so that the US can pay their interest payments. Louis notes that China and Russia are also purchasing hard assets, including silver and gold. Louis notes that Alan Greenspan recently commented that the US will never default on its obligations because it can always print money. Louis notes that Greenspan’s comments do not reflect encroaching senility but rather his position of no longer being the Fed chairman and notes that Bernanke holds the same view. Louis notes that the US will pay its debt even if they have to print the difference and notes that such a manner of payment is default by inflation rather than default by non payment as the currency so printed up is worth less. Louis notes that getting a low interest rate mortgage now is a benefit in that the dollars used in the future to pay off the mortgage will be worth less. Ryan notes that when markets are volatile, they rush to purchase US Treasuries. Louis notes that the reason there is volatility is because people are concerned about the US economy and the dollar and that ironically their investment decision is to purchase US Treasuries. Ryan notes that he would buy gold or silver as a safe haven rather than US Treasuries. Louis notes that the rate on US Treasuries is lower that the rate of inflation. Louis notes that while we can’t predict the direction of interest rates, we know that rates can only fall from 4% towards zero but they can rise many points higher. Ryan notes that the Fed thinks there is no inflation. Louis notes that there is inflation in the money supply and that it has already found its way into higher prices of commodities but not necessarily in the price of all finished goods. Louis notes that this stance gives the Fed cover to do QE3 and QE4. Louis notes that we are already seeing QE3 as the Fed is reinvesting the interest in the bonds they purchased during QE1 and QE2 back into US Treasuries

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